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Early German Comics

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Franz Joseph Goez 'Lenardo und Blandine' 1783
Ironically this, the first actual graphic novel(ette), probably had little influence. It was too ahead of its time as far as the comic-structure is concerned. In content it was delightfully very much of its time, full of outrageous melodrama. Here's the complete sequence, with my translation underneath:
1 - page 1-34       2 - page 35-65       3 - page 66-93       4 - page 94-125       5 - page 126-160

            All on one page - click here




Neuruppiner Bilderbogen 1835/40



Heinrich Hoffmann 'Struwwelpeter' (drawn 1844, published 1847 - English edition 1848)
This famous picture book is stylistically related to earlier chapbooks and Bilderbogen / picture broad sheets. The hunter/rabbit story is similar to a panel from an earlier Bilderbogen showing (non-sequential) instances of a 'topsy turvy' world.



Two pages from the magazine 'Leuchtkugeln' 1848





Wilhelm Busch
Index
Das warme Bad / The Warm Bath (1865) Bilderbogen number 278
Der Floh / The Flea (1865) Bilderbogen number 390 - wordless - alternative title: .Disturbed and Refound Peace of Night'
Der Virtuos / The Virtuoso (1865) Bilderbogen number 465      
Astonishing page, which was particularly influencial.
Der gewandte, kunstreiche Barbier und sein kluger Hund / The Baber and his clever dog (1865) BB399       Was imitated by Charles Ross
The Little Honey Thieves (1859) - Bilderbogen number 242 - The first appearance of two Katzenjammer Kids type rapscallions. It's in the format of an illustrated story, but the pictures work as a comic on their own. Which is a fitting start for Busch, as this is how modern comics evolved: illustrated stories, where the text became of secondary importance. The art is a mixture of the detailed illustration of the time in the backgrounds and the already snappy characterisation of the figures. (The beginning of 'big nose cartooning').
The Hollow Tooth (1865) Bilderbogen number 330      
This was inspired/heavily influenced by George Cruikshank's 'The Toothache'
Der Bauer und sein Schwein (The peasant and his pig)
Der kleine Maler mit der grossen Mappe (The little painter with the large portfolio)      
This early work (1859) still uses the romantic drawing style of the best known illustrator at the time, Ludwig Richter (Grimms Fairy Tales etc).
Der Bauer und der Windmüller (The Peasant and the Miller) (two Bilderbogen in sequence)
Der vergebliche Versuch (Returning home after New Year's Eve...) (1865) (from Fliegende Blätter vol.46)
Der Katzenjammer am Neujahrsmorgen (The hangover on Newyear's Day) (1866) (from Fliegende Blätter)
Der schöne Ritter' (The handsome Knight) (1866) (from Fliegende Blätter)






F. von B. 'Der schlaue Pepi - oder - Die geraubte Gans' (Fliegende Blätter vol 82) (Without Words)



Johann Bahr Index
'Der kurzsichtige Bassgeiger' (The short-sighted bass-player) (without words)
'Schnelles Wachstum' (Fast Growth) (without words)
'The Mechanical Racehorse' (originally in 'Lustige Blätter' 1892, here also from 'Picture Magazine' 1893)
Die Rivalen auf dem Eise (Lustige Blätter 1892)
Die verrätherische Fata Morgana (Lustige Blätter 1892) (without words)
(Speech by Professor Strubelmann on how to take care of your hair) (Lustige Blätter 1892)
Der kluge Plüsecke (Lustige Blätter 1892)
'Der Sonntagsfrevler - oder - Die verbotene Angelei' (Lustige Blätter 1892)
'Der gefoppte Schwarzseher' (Lustige Blätter 1892) (without words)



Gerlach 'A Tale of a Lamp and a Bath' (from'Universum', reprinted in Picture Magazine 1893)



F. Graetz 'Die Wirkung der afrikanischen Sonne auf das Kilimandscharo-Gebiet' (1892) (Lustige Blätter)



A. Jensen Index
'Der Abgeordnete und der Wähler' (Lustige Blätter 1892) (the often repeated visual joke of relating the size of people to their power or importance)
'Die 'Vermehlung' des Schornsteinfegers' (Lustige Blätter 1892)
'Die Ratte' (Lustige Blätter 1892)
'Ein armer Lahmer' (Lustige Blätter 1892)



C. Koch (Deutsche Bilderbogen 162 - Gustav Weise Stuttgart)



Ch. Lagemann 'Der zerstreute Professor oder Eine Überraschung' (Lustige Blätter 1892)



M. Mandl 'Praktische Verwertung der neuesten Mode' ('Practical application of the latest fashion') (1885) (Fliegende Bl&amul;tter vol 82)



Lothar Meggendorfer Index
Aus den Kinderjahren eines Kautschukmenschen (from the infant years of the plastic man)
Rache ist süss (Revenge is sweet)
Die schlauen Zwerge (The Clever Dwarfes)
Misslungene Arretierung (Unsuccessful Arrest)
Liebesgram und Heilung (Love sickness and Recuperation)
Das bockbeinige Schwein und der Philosoph (The recalcitrant pig and the philosopher)
Die Macht der Musik' (FB 1888)




Adolf Oberländer Index
Illustrierte Anzeige - Ein Grotesktänzer, durch Kabalne dem Ballett entrissen, empfielt sich als Bodenwichser
Ein jedes Tierchen hat sein Pläsierchen - 1885
Zufalls Tücke - oder - Unfreiwillige Illustration - 1885
Die kurzsichtige Tante (The shortsighted aunt) 1903
Münchener Tartarus (1865)
Die unterbrochene Trauung (1865)
Täuschung - (text with three illustrations) (1865)
Der Wunderdoktor (1865)



Karl Pommerhanz Index
Ein Frechdachs
Der getäuschte Arzt
Die Benutzte Gelegenheit
Die kleinen Verwandlungskünstler
Der Herr Professor und das Feuerwerk
Das boshafte Geschwisterpaar
Die Pferdelspieler
Der kleine Turner und seine Lebensrettung
Bestrafte Unhöflichkeit (1892)




Carl Reinhardt (Die Landpartie) (Deutsche Bilderbogen für Jung und Alt Nr.96)



Reichert 'Un Drame en deux actes avec trois personnages' (from 'Album Noel', 1900)



Emil Reinicke Index
Das jähzornige Nashorn' (The angry Rhino) (1886)
Die verschwundene Wurst - Eine merkwürdige Begebenheit (FB 1885)
Irren ist Menschlich (to err is human) (FB 1884)
Iberus - Eine antimusikalische Ballade (FB 1884)
Dr. Mokel in Afrika (FB 1884)
Sächsisches Landsknechtlied (FB 1885)
Das Kegelspiel - Historisches Gedicht (FB 1885)
Der Kluge Elefant (The clever elephant) (1902)
Der durstige Jumbo' (Thirsty Jumbo) (1902)



F. Reznicek



H. Scherenberg Index
Der Bauer und der Kobold (The peasant and the kobold)
Die entführte Wurst (The kidnapped sausage)
Das Ständchen (The serenade)
Ferientag eines Zerstreuten (Holiday of someone very distracted)
Die Drei Wünsche (The three wishes)



Schmelzer 'Hansl und Gretel - oder - Nach und nach' (1865) (Fliegende Blätter vol.46)



R. Schönborn (Drei Räuber) (Deutsche Bilderbogen Nr.105)



Schliessmann 'Der Sechsfüssler - ein Clownscherz' (The six-footer, a clownish joke)



Arpad Schmidthammer (1905) This was very likely an inspiration for 'The Kinder-Kids' by Lionel Feininger. Schmidthammer's 'Mucki' had just been published when Feininger (living in Germany) was commisioned by the Chicago Tribune to come up with a comic strip. The style and content, especially the trip-round-the-world nonsense, shows similarities, although Feininger is far more inventive. - Schmidthammer himself was influenced by Busch, the plump parents are classic Busch (see Tobias Knop and wife), and the gag of hanging onto the stork is lifted from Max and Moritz.






C. Storch Index
Der Automobilfahrer wider Willen (The unwilling motorist)
Bestrafter Geiz (Punished Selfishness)
Blinder Eifer (Blind Zeal)
Glück im Unglück - Storch after Pomerhanz
Gnom und Maulwurf (Gnome and Mole)
Der Maler und der Stier (The Painter and the Bull)
Verunglückter Musikuntericht (The music lesson that went wrong)
Die Zwerge und der Fischer (The Dwarfs and the Fisherman)



H. Storkmann (French reprint) (originally published in Fliegende Blätter)



John Theele 'Die fünf Sinne' (The five senses) (Lustige Bl&aumml;tter 1892)





P. Richards 'Die Sonntagsbeilage' (The Sunday Supplement) Berlin, 1907 - This is probably the first text explaining the new phenomenon of American Sunday comics to a German audience. P.Richards was a German-American cartoonist, working in America. This is from a book of recollections, called 'Zeichner und Gezeichnete' . Zeichner means draughtsmen/graphic artists /drawers' (Gezeichnete means 'those which have been drawn')